Alternative types of content you shouldn’t ignore

With high quality content, you can enhance search engine visibility, attract customers to your website and increase those all important conversions. However, it also gives you the opportunity to establish your brand’s identify, build online reputations and become an industry influencer.

A regularly updated company blog gives you the best chance of achieving these initial objectives, but there are several types of alternative content that can accomplish the rest. In addition to more written word content such as white papers and e-books, visual stimulation in the form of infographics and animated GIFs are also incredibly beneficial.

But have you ever considered producing podcasts, filming video tutorials or hosting webinars? Each and every one of these suggestions might not be relevant or suitable for your business, but reaching out to customers and trying to engage with them in innovative ways is always a good idea.

Podcasts

Perfect for customers or clients that don’t have the time to read an extensive piece of copy or want to listen to something useful and informative on the go, podcasts are a great content medium. What you talk about is up to you, but it can include the same sort of subjects and themes as a company blog. Here are some additional tips:

Use a proper microphone and good recording program, as sound quality is of the upmost importance.

Aim for around 20 minutes, as the majority of podcast listeners want something light and not too long while driving to work or on their lunch break.

Get more people involved and conduct interviews or introduce co-hosts. The same voice can get a bit boring, so mix it up a bit and add some variety.

If you manage to build up a loyal following of listeners, release your podcasts on a specific day at a specific time, as they’ll get into the habit of always downloading.

Promote podcasts on your website and social media accounts. Afterwards, transcribe the whole thing and put it online, as this will markedly improve SEO.

Video tutorials

From showing customers how a product works to giving clients a demonstration of your service in action, video tutorials are another excellent type of content that can noticeably increase engagement. As a matter of fact, Cisco believes that videos will make up 79 per cent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2018. Here’s how to connect with your audience through video tutorials:

Again, you’ll need to use quality video equipment to look as professional and competent as possible. There are quite a few affordable and even free editing suites available, but a good microphone and camera is desirable.

Write a script and practice what you’re going to say before hand. Film a first take and show it to other people. They’ll be able to provide honest and constructive feedback.

Try and create a series of videos that your audience will keep coming back to. Avoid cramming too much into one video and spread it out over time.

Although you can host the video on your site, it is preferable to upload it on YouTube for greater views, comments and rankings on Google.

Seeing as tutorials perform well on YouTube and show up on Google search results, promote your channel as much as possible. You can do this by creating annotations on the video and providing links in the description.

Webinars

Hosting a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar online is a superb way of letting your audience know that you’re a knowledgeable, reliable and entertaining source of information. What’s more, it also gives customers or clients the chance to respond and make comments in real time. Here is how to go about it:

Just like video tutorials, come up with a plan of what you’re going to talk about and create a structure of specific topics and particular questions. Don’t just leave it to chance.

Choose a web conferencing tool and do a test run first to make sure there are no audio or visual problems. Google+ Hangouts is one of the most popular and effective ways to host a webinar, as it works with numerous platforms and devices.

If you’re conducting a presentation or talking about a complex subject, consider creating some text to accompany the webinar. That way, viewers can follow what’s going on without getting confused.

Try to avoid going on for too long and limit each webinar to around an hour. You can always host a follow-up if needs be.

Not all of these mediums will work for your business, but by exploring the opportunities available, you can realise the overwhelming benefits of creating new and unique content.